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Surprise! Solo: A Star Wars Story Will Premiere At Cannes

Yesterday morning, the Cannes Film Festival confirmed that its opening night movie would be two-time Oscar winner Asghar Farhadi’s Everybody Knows starring Javier Bardem and Penelope Cruz. Unfortunately for Asghar, however, the news was slightly overshadowed by another announcement out of Cannes shortly after.

Deadline has learned that Solo: A Star Wars Story will be premiering at the 71st Cannes Film Festival in a special screening on May 15th. The Ron Howard-directed origin story starring Alden Ehrenreich in the titular role was set to make its global debut May 25th, but had no problem quickly shifting course for France when the opportunity arose.

The match may appear odd at first glance, but Star Wars and Cannes do have a history. If you’ll recall, both 2002’s Attack of the Clones and 2005’s Revenge of the Sith played out of competition at the festival.

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Solo: A Star Wars Story’s production wasn’t the smooth flight Lucasfilm had envisioned. The Disney subsidiary and original directors Phil Lord and Chris Miller parted ways over “creative differences” months into filming, resulting in Ron Howard’s late addition to the picture.

The criticism of Alden Ehrenreich’s performance by an unnamed source close to the film and having undergone extensive reshoots didn’t help the matter, either. The blockbuster’s uncertainty is reminiscent of George Lucas’ divisive episodes I through III. So if anything, the Cannes screening will either ease fans’ worries or vindicate them ten days earlier.

In addition to Ehrenreich, Solo: A Star Wars Story will feature Atlanta’s Donald Glover as Lando Calrissian, Game of Thrones’ Emilia Clarke, and three-time Academy Award nominee Woody Harrelson.

The Cannes Film Festival, meanwhile, is still finalizing its roster, but we’ll be sure to let you know if any other surprises pop up.